


once, raimonds dedicates a song to rebeka

by ayselz



Series: jūras princis [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Other, damn i actually loved this, maiden with the flaxen hair is now rebeka's theme wbk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 08:24:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16014086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayselz/pseuds/ayselz
Summary: "There were dark circles under his eyes when he looked up. She’d expected fire, the hottest of the blue flames, within his deep blue orbs, but all she saw was exhausted resolution. All traces of the fire which had burned in them reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes."Raimonds, told in Rebeka's POV.





	once, raimonds dedicates a song to rebeka

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IamFTHF](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamFTHF/gifts).



“What’s that?”

Raimonds lifted the box he’d been carrying onto the low wooden table. It was nondescript, rectangular, and a little long. Rebeka’s heart leaped up to her throat as her mind went through the things it could contain—was it a new gun?

She knew that Raimonds had taken an alarming fancy towards guns during the War of Independence, but he had donated his whole collection to the army when the war ended, and now he had nothing but a pistol hidden somewhere in his room. It was for their safety, he’d insisted.

But, the box. It looked like it could contain something with a longer range, Hell, even a sniper of some kind. Rebeka knew next to nothing about guns and warfare, but she did know that Raimonds’ aim was deadlier than any other’s. And there was reason on why he’d get himself a new gun, as this was the elephant in the room neither the three of them had addressed.

Raina was missing.

“What’s that?” she repeated urgently, when he didn’t answer her.

There were dark circles under his eyes when he looked up. She’d expected fire, the hottest of the blue flames, within his deep blue orbs, but all she saw was exhausted resolution. All traces of the fire which had burned in them reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes.

Wordlessly, Raimonds yanked the lid of the box off. Despite her underlying fear, Rebeka took a peek. Her worries vanished into thin air when she saw what it contained. It was not a gun, nor any weapon of harm of any sort. It was a stringed instrument, one she’d only seen in performances before.

“A violin,” Raimonds supplied in a subdued tone. “Someone sold it to me at a nice price, and I couldn’t resist it.”

Her expression softened. Now she remembered a gentler side of Raimonds, from way before. It was true that he was always rough on the edges, and rougher his tongue was, but there were rare moments when Raimonds lost the scowl on his face and it was replaced with the tiniest of smiles. _Auseklis_ , Rebeka mused, watching him carefully lift the violin from the flimsy cloth it had been nestled into, _has always reserved a smile when he played music._

She sighed. “I thought it was something else.”

He was inspecting the strings of the instrument, turning the knobs on it a little here and there, but Rebeka saw that split-second when his fingers stiffened. “You think I got myself a gun,” he said, then he scoffed. “Your lack of faith in any of us shouldn’t fucking surprise me any longer, but look at me now.”

Her cheeks burned with shame. There was no reasoning with Raimonds, no trying to assure him that what he thought was wrong. Because he was correct. Raina saw through Rebeka’s distrust and understood where she came from, but Raimonds only saw through her. He never cared enough to try understanding why she had to think that way.

She bit on her lower lip, probably a little harder than necessary, and she tasted bitter iron. “Well, can you blame me? There’s a problem we are facing and neither you nor Raivis have acknowledged it properly. One of these days, one of you would snap. I was just worried that it would probably be you.”

Raimonds raised the instrument to his chin, poised to play now. Rebeka thought he looked majestic, in the way an avenging angel was majestic when it held its blazing sword upon its enemies, features sharp and eyes glittering with something, something intense. She’d seen him in battle once, and Raimonds—no, he was Auseklis—was glorious. Like the dawn he had been named after, he burned through waves of his enemies with swift swings of his blade, and his deep blue eyes signified not the cold of the icy sea, but the ire of the hottest fire.

“You thought wrong,” he said simply. He met his gaze, the deep blue sea and clear blue sky, and began to play. It was a soft melody which sounded vaguely familiar to Rebeka, but she couldn’t put a finger on which. “But now that you did mention it, I suppose I could have done something. I’m not sure what exactly, but fucking anything.”

There were moments of dissonance, like the bow striking a wrong note, and it would make Rebeka flinch, but Raimonds continued on. Soon, the discord blended into the music, and she began to accept it. Chasing perfection was a lost cause. Sometimes, they had to make do with the imperfect, jagged pieces they had.

“But I also know Raina. Lucija.” He stopped playing, then, his brows furrowed together with concentration. Then he began playing once again from the beginning. “She never goes away. She’ll be back.”

How badly Rebeka wanted to believe in that. She was never one to show affection toward her sister, but the prospect of not having Raina in their lives any more didn’t sit quite right with her. Raina was a constant, albeit perhaps being more of a constant pain than anything, but she’d always been there. Stubborn, stubborn Raina who plunged headfirst into wars if it meant defending those she loved deeply, and while Rebeka hated her for being able to love so much, she also reveled in the fact she was one of the people Raina swore she would die for.

“It’s only been a week,” she murmured. She watched her brother’s long fingers as they worked the instrument’s strings wondrously, amazed at the revelation that Raimonds’ fingers, the same one he used in wreaking havoc, were at the same time able to produce such genteel, lovely music. “What’s the song called?”

Raimonds stopped playing, again. The lack of the soft but somehow sorrowful notes was instantly present in the tiny apartment block, threatening to engulf Rebeka and drown her. She watched her brother as a small smirk painted itself on his lips.

“ _The Maiden with the Flaxen Hair,_ ” he answered, as he began putting the instrument back into its box. “Debussy. I thought it suited you well. Did you like it?”

She nodded mutely, surprised at the dedication. “I… yes. Very much. Although I thought you would be playing something for Raina, and not me.”

He secured the lid over the box carefully, then lifted his dark gaze up at her. There was something akin to amusement and wonder in his gaze. “So your courtesy isn’t always a façade, then? I see nothing but genuine surprise in your eyes right now.”

Surprising them both, Rebeka let out a little laugh. “I am genuinely courteous sometimes, I’ll have you know,” she said, a little teasing, raising both of her eyebrows at her brother.

He chuckled back at her. Rebeka’s face slid into an easy, relieved smile. Never in her life she had expected to be laughing with Raimonds in a time when Raina was missing, but life was unpredictable that way.

“I could play for Raina once she gets back.” His tone held unwavering trust for their sister, and it kind of made her heart hurt. “You’re the one here, so I’m playing for you.” He showed her his rare smile, and the hurt instantly dissipated.

She would always feel the most different out of all them four, but in that moment, she felt like she truly belonged. Like Raina could stay missing forever, but they wouldn’t mind it at all, because there still remained a sister, and Raimonds and Raivis could choose her instead—

The door suddenly opened, revealing a disheveled Raivis. Sweat shined on his forehead, and his uniform was all crumpled, as if he’d run through Hell just to get back to them. His golden locks were tinged with dust and grime, yet his brilliant turquoise eyes shone like tiny stars in the sky.

He held up a battered piece of paper.

“It’s Mendel. Raina’s been found in Saaremaa.”

Raimonds burst into tears then, and for the first time in his life, lunged forward to tackle his brother into a tight embrace. Rebeka was relieved, too, for the most part, but somehow she felt as if a thorn that was previously pulled out of her heart was violently shoved back in, ever deeper this time.

**Author's Note:**

> Some notes, haha.
> 
> \- Raina is missing after she went home from Finland, on a semi-suicidal act of joining his war against Russia.  
> \- Contrary to popular belief, entertainment isn't banned in the USSR. People found a way to acquire music and movies.


End file.
